In previous years, the night of the Cateys would see me dashing home from the office to quickly get changed into my glad rags and ‘doll myself up’ as best I could on a quick turn-around. Then I’d head up to town by train and cab, arriving in time to enjoy some pre-dinner bubbles and mingle with the gathered throng at The Grosvenor House Hotel, whilst admiring the always stunning ballroom below. This year however was (as most things have been) somewhat different. Rather than a little black dress I was in my working from home uniform of smartish top and gym gear below the waist. Instead of bubbles I had my trusty water bottle and instead of The Grosvenor House I was sat at my kitchen table-come-office in front of my laptop.
Last Friday I was fortunate enough to end my week enjoying fantastic food and wine with equally fantastic company. With no less than three clients shortlisted for a Product Excellence Award (The Caterer’s 2019 PEAs in partnership with Delaware North) I ventured out to the London Stadium (2012 Olympic Stadium and home to West Ham United F.C.) to celebrate their success.
As a leading food and drink agency we pride ourselves on keeping abreast of the latest developments in the world of foodservice and a key part of that is attending the regular Arena networking events. This week saw the summer event, held at the roof top venue of 30 Euston Square, it was impressively jam-packed with content and of course a rather fabulous lunch to boot. The day kicked-off with a presentation on the breakfast and brunch market from Deli France. As the only meal occasion in growth (at time of publication) it’s little wonder there is a desire to really understand the consumer drivers around this growing opportunity. Unsurprisingly, as with most of out of home eating market, there is a split between health and indulgence and with our busy lifestyles convenience is a big factor. As well as the more functional breakfast on-the-go, the rise of brunch was also examined in our millennial led ‘insta-focused’ world where brunch has become the go to for meeting up with friends. (For the full report visit www.delifrance.com/uk/breakfast-brunch-report to download.)
When it comes to festival food long gone are days of the dodgy burger van. With the rise of street food you can now eat everything from Thai to stone baked pizza, Korean BBQ to Moroccan wraps. But there is one festival that takes things to the next level when it comes to food. Tom’s Kerridge’s brain child ‘Pub in the Park’ blends music with truly great food – genius! With eight of these pop-up festivals planned this summer, everywhere from Leeds to Tunbridge Wells, it seems Tom is adding festival organiser to this many talents.
Picture this: a glorious summer’s evening, the smell of sausages sizzling away on the BBQ and most importantly, a tantalizing and refreshing cocktail in hand, otherwise known as a Mojito.
As you will know The Cateys is known as the Oscars of the hospitality world and plays host to those at the top of their game. As the leading foodservice agency we were delighted to join the team at The Caterer for a night of fabulous food from Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Exec Chef at Northcote, great compering from newly-wed Rachel Riley of Countdown fame and of course the awards themselves.
As the leading foodservice agency we were delighted to have been invited once again to the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs Awards at the fabulous London Hilton on Park Lane by our good friends Dewberry Redpoint.
Hospitality Action do great work for those in our industry who have fallen on hard times, and as the leading foodservice agency, Jellybean have been supporting them for over 20 years. As a thank you for our support and pro-bono design work, we were invited to their Big Fat Quiz at the London Hilton on Park Lane – an opportunity we jumped at.
Two of my favourite things came together this bank holiday weekend – the coast and food! The Foodies Festival is the UK’s biggest food festival and celebrates food from across the globe in a tour around the UK including Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Oxford, as well as one of my favourite places, Brighton. Your leading foodservice marketing agency reports back with the skinny on the all that took place!
If you didn’t happen to be one of the 81 million pairs of eyes that saw our fantastically tongue-in-cheek integrated Food PR & Social Media campaign for family-run Surrey sausage manufacturer, Porky Whites, then perhaps ‘the SAUSIES’ is a new term to you…
Five weeks in and I’m attending my first industry event as a new bean; H2O’s B&I StrEATfood Awards. An opportunity to try different street food concepts, alongside meeting likeminded people within the foodservice industry, whilst also witnessing the creativity of the UK’s best street food chefs in contract catering. H2O Publishing organised an amazing event which did not disappoint.
We recently attended the HIM Future of Convenience 2019 event and spent a fascinating day immersed in the exciting and ever-changing world of convenience retail. We heard from an array of speakers from retailers, suppliers and industry experts.
As a leading food and drink agency we are regular attendees at Arena networking events. This December their Christmas event was long-awaited, as it marked not only the unofficial start to Christmas (in my humble opinion), but also the very first function to be held at the Mandarin Oriental since its fire and refurbishment. As well as the draw of the opulent surroundings of the Mandarin Oriental, the running order of the day boasted a presentation from Peter Backman and a talk from Chef Patron of Lympstone Manor, Michael Caines MBE.
The tickets sold out weeks ago, but on Monday Jellybean headed to the beautiful Chino Latino, Park Plaza for a ‘Michelin starred evening with Raymond Blanc OBE and his Protégés’.
The FSM Awards recognises the very best of the contract catering world across its diverse sectors, from workplace to education catering, across everything from management to chef skills, innovation to CSR. The glittering night was compered by Mark Durden-Smith who it seemed had trawled through everyone’s LinkedIn and company websites to find out some of the most embarrassing facts about them (all of which was taken in good humour – thankfully).
Last night we were lucky enough to be invited to Festival 30, the 30th birthday celebrations of The Russell Partnership – industry leading foodservice consultants and long-time client of Jellybean.
Held at the prestigious Royal Garden Hotel, I had the pleasure of attending the first BITES Live conference from H2O Publishing and hearing all about the latest trends and brands shaping the food and drink offerings on our high street.
BITES stands for Brands, Insights, Trends and customer Experiences, which was perfectly covered by the array of exciting speakers discussing hot topics from experiential hospitality to how technology is shaping eating out. Here are my top takeouts from the day:
The EDUcatering Awards held by H20’s EDUcatering Magazine celebrates the oft unsung heroes of catering in the education sector. School catering has seen its critics over recent years, but in stark contrast to the headlines, it has some of the most passionate and driven people in the world of foodservice. Dedicated to ensuring our children eat well and develop good habits early on, school caterers both in-house and in the contract catering arena take their responsibility very seriously and truly deserve this glittering night. As the leading foodservice agency we were lucky enough to attend this marvellous event hosted by Jamie Robins MD of H20 and Jason O’Rouke, Headteacher of Washingborough Academy.
Glory for Independents at the Retail Oscars! The Retail Industry Awards, widely regarded as “The Oscars” of the grocery retail sector is the annual get-together of the whole industry to celebrate and reward the best of the best, from the smallest independents, to the largest supermarket groups. Having hot-footed it from the Quality Foodservice awards the Jellybean Convenience Retail Marketing team were joined at the prestigious ceremony by many of our key retail clients to toast the great and good.
